Operation Petticoat (1959)

Operation Petticoat
Directed by Blake Edwards
Written by Stanley Shapiro and Maurice Richlin
1959/USA
Universal International Pictures/Granat Company
Repeat viewing/Netflix rental

[box] Chief Mechanic’s Mate Sam Tostin: A woman just shouldn’t mess around with a man’s machinery.[/box]

This is a light-hearted WWII comedy a la Mr. Roberts, with a bit more naughtiness thrown in.

Lt. Commander Matt T. Sherman (Cary Grant) finds himself assigned to a decrepit submarine, The Tiger Sea, which is slated for the scrap heap.  In the nick of time, Pearl Harbor is attacked and Sherman convinces his superiors to let him try to rehabilitate the craft.  Among, Sherman’s many challenges is a shortage of almost everything allowing the sub to sail, including toilet paper.  He is also saddled with LT. JG Nicholas Holden (Tony Curtis) who seems to have spent his entire career in the navy wining and dining bigshots.  Fortunately, Holden is a man of many talents and proves to be a successful and unscrupulous scavenger.

On its voyage to the Philipines, the Tiger Sea is forced to stop at an island for repairs.  There Holden comes across five nurses who were left stranded there and eagerly offers them a lift. Needless to say, the close quarters of the sub provide many opportunities for humor.  Holden begins to woo the most buxom of the bunch, played by Dina Merrill.

More excitement ensues when the sub needs repainting.  The scavengers could find white primer and red primer but not enough of either color to cover the vessel.  Thus, Capt. Sherman finds himself in enemy waters with a pink submarine that is suspicious to both the Japanese and the Americans alike.  With Arthur O’Connell as a machinist’s mate.

This is a fun bit of fluff.  Tony Curtis plays a scoundrel but is at the absolute height of his sex appeal and is irresistible.

Operation Petticoat was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Material Written Directly for the Screen.

Trailer